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Alma Festival Will Celebrate Spinach

Event organizers are gearing up for the 27th annual Alma Spinach Festival, set for April 19-20.

For the third year, the festival will kick off April 19 with the Popeye Classic Golf Tournament at Eagle Crest Golf Course.

A fee of $340 per team pays for green fee, cart and lunch for the four-person scramble, said Lisa Marie Norris, executive director for the Alma Area Chamber of Commerce. Lunch will be provided by Arvest Bank again this year.

Registration begins at 11 a.m., lunch will be served at noon, and the tournament will begin at 1 p.m. There will be door prizes and chances for cash games throughout the course, Norris said.

“This is an event that has just expanded and grown to be bigger and better each year,” Norris said. “We expect even more teams in 2013.”

Norris added that joining the golf tournament is “a great networking opportunity.”

The downtown festival starts early April 20 with the annual 5K Dog Run, hosted by the Alma Partners Club.

“This is a great out-and-back 5K that starts in front of the performing arts center,” Norris said.

Registration for the race begins at 6:30 a.m. with the race starting at 8 a.m.

A pancake breakfast is scheduled from 7-10:30 a.m. April 20, hosted by the Masonic Lodge.

At 8 a.m., vendor booths will open, and everyone can expect several arts-and-crafts-type of vendors, Norris said. The Alma Public Library will host its book sale from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. in front of the library.

A quilt raffle will be held in front of the Crawford County Genealogical Society.

On the Popeye Stage, New Creation gospel band will perform at 9 a.m. followed by James Jones performing classic country at 11:30 a.m.

The spinach-eating contest will begin at noon in front of the stage.

Country singer Alex Trusty will perform at 1 p.m., with more local music at 1:30 p.m. Crooked and Steep will finish the stage performances at 3 p.m.

Also at 3 p.m., the Alma Rotary Club and the Boys and Girls Club of Alma will host a Spinach Drop. Participants can buy tickets and will be assigned a random number on a grid. Tickets are being sold by Rotary Club members.

Spinach will be dropped from a firetruck ladder onto the grid, and the owner of each winning number will take home a portion of the prize money up to $500. This is a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Alma.